🍅 Quick take: Pisanello (Pomodoro Pisanello) is a classic semi-indeterminate Tuscan heirloom from the countryside around Pisa, Italy. Vines produce small-to-medium, heavily ribbed red fruits (2-4 oz / 60-120 g) that look like miniature scalloped pumpkins or flattened pucks. Dense, meaty, and low in free-flowing juice, it is a traditional Mediterranean canning and bruschetta tomato, though some northern growers warn that it can be temperamental and drop blossoms if grown in acidic or peat-heavy soils. | Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-6 Experience)
Pisanello: heavily ribbed, flattened, firm flesh, solid red, on the smaller side. Grown outside in the garden.Edited October 28, 2013 by Lidiya
In my garden bed, it topped out at barely 3.5 ft (1.1 m) tall, even though it is officially listed as an indeterminate. Mid-season. Flavor is good, standard classic tomato taste.Almost forgot to mention: these were authentic pedigree seeds straight from an Italian packet.
Edited October 28, 2013 by Esme
Galina, mine came right out of your seed stash! Thank you!
Lidiya, it is always fun seeing how the exact same seed line behaves under different garden conditions. Maybe a few other growers will chime in with their results.
Is this variety better for whole-jar canning or for fresh table eating? And how was the overall yield?
Mine came out as neat little ribbed hockey pucks weight-wise, and the vine grew just over 3.3 ft (1 m) tall.
Esme said:
Lidiya, it is always fun seeing how the exact same seed line behaves under different garden conditions…
Galina, yours and mine look completely identical! We just ate ours fresh at the table, never got around to putting them up in jars.
Canning Suitability, “Mini-Pumpkin” Shape, and Blossom Drop Issues
Galina P. said:
Is this variety better for whole-jar canning or for fresh table eating? And how was the overall yield?
Galina, I canned mine whole! They are small enough to slip easily into standard jars, and the yield was quite respectable, especially considering Galina’s seeds started from commercial retail packs 😉
Another one going straight onto my wish list! 🥺
Galina P. said:
Is this variety better for whole-jar canning or for fresh table eating? And how was the overall yield?
Galina, yield was about average. I never put any in jars, but the interior flesh is definitely not watery. I checked my seed count and only managed to save a small batch, even though I had my doubts I would get any seed at all.
Inside my greenhouse, it climbed to 5 ft (1.5 m) and was completely loaded with little ribbed mini-pumpkins. I canned a batch whole, but haven’t cracked the jars open to taste yet. Adding photos from home later.
Mine grew in the greenhouse, reaching about 5 ft (1.5 m). It dropped blossoms on nearly every single truss, and I never could figure out why. In the worst of the summer heat, all my plants struggled a bit, but Pisanello dropped flowers from opening day right through the end of the season: when it was warm, when it was blazing hot, and even when cool autumn weather set in.The plant itself is very tidy and attractive, both as a seedling and as a mature vine. But I ended up with maybe five tomatoes off the entire plant.
Such a stunner! 👍 👍 👍
Galina, the fruit really is gorgeous. Forgot to add: one seedling didn’t fit inside the greenhouse, so I planted it right outside against the wall. It had the exact same flower drop issue, so I pulled it early. Maybe it just despised my peat-heavy soil.Cannot speak on the flavor since I never got to taste one. The skins almost looked translucent on the vine.
Here is Pisanello performing in my greenhouse:
Full Summary: Plant Habit, Ribbed Anatomy, Canning, and Soil Quirks
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Semi-determinate to moderate indeterminate vine. Outdoors in garden beds, it stays compact around 3.5 ft (1-1.1 m); inside high tunnels and greenhouses, it tops out around 5 ft (1.5 m). Very tidy, well-behaved foliage.
- 🍅 Fruit Morphology: Small-to-medium oblate red fruits (2-4 oz / 60-120 g) with deep, scalloped ribbing resembling miniature pumpkins or scalloped discs. Flesh is dense and meaty with low free-flowing seed water.
- 👅 Flavor Profile: Traditional, savory old-school tomato flavor with balanced sugars and acid. Well-suited for rustic bruschetta and cooking rather than ultra-sweet snacking.
- 🥫 Preservation: Ideal size and structural density for packing whole into canning jars without blowing out or turning mushy.
- ⚠️ Blossom Drop Sensitivity: While highly productive for most growers, it can be fickle regarding soil composition. In high-peat, acidic, or poorly aerated soils, it can drop blossoms continuously through heat and cold swings alike.
- 🌎 Reviewers: Trialed across USDA Zones 4, 5, and 6 (Moscow Region, Leningrad Region, and Belgorod).
👨🌾 Editor’s Note: Tuscan Pisanello & Soil Sensitivity
Pomodoro Pisanello (or Costoluto Pisanello) is an ancient landrace native to the plains of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy. Traditionally, it is a staple of Tuscan summer cooking (used in panzanella bread salad, rubbed onto grilled rustic bread for bruschetta, or preserved whole in glass jars). Grower Svetlana noted catastrophic blossom drop in both greenhouse and outdoor beds, suspecting her peat-heavy substrate. Mediterranean landraces evolved in mineral-rich, alkaline, calcareous river-valley loam; when grown in acidic, moisture-retentive peat soils with high humidity, pollen grains often clump or fail to germinate, leading to chronic blossom drop regardless of ambient temperatures.
Pomodoro Pisanello (or Costoluto Pisanello) is an ancient landrace native to the plains of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy. Traditionally, it is a staple of Tuscan summer cooking (used in panzanella bread salad, rubbed onto grilled rustic bread for bruschetta, or preserved whole in glass jars). Grower Svetlana noted catastrophic blossom drop in both greenhouse and outdoor beds, suspecting her peat-heavy substrate. Mediterranean landraces evolved in mineral-rich, alkaline, calcareous river-valley loam; when grown in acidic, moisture-retentive peat soils with high humidity, pollen grains often clump or fail to germinate, leading to chronic blossom drop regardless of ambient temperatures.
